Heavy Breathing
by LilyGhost
Summary: Stephanie finally finds a tolerable way of getting into shape and works up a sweat ... first on her own, then with Ranger. A Ranger POV story.


**This story is for WizardsWoman. She gave me the outline and songs for this one-shot and I did my best to fill in the rest. All familiar characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine. Warnings for a bit of language and smut.**

"Do you have any jobs for me?" Steph asked. "I could use a little extra money right now."

"For what?" I asked her.

"The gym."

That was the last thing I'd expected to ever hear Stephanie say.

"_The gym?_"

"Yup. A woman Mary Lou knows from her kid's school teaches a class at the gym. Mary Lou dragged me to one the other day ... and I kind of liked it. And for some stupid reason, the gym charges for using their people or their stuff."

"Well, _I _don't charge anything, Babe," I told her. "You can use the Rangeman gym for free, _any _time you choose."

"Thanks, but this kind of workout isn't really Rangeman's style. Hmm, maybe I could just get a DVD of something similar and do it at home. That would be cheap."

"Except you don't have anything to play one on. You go through electronics faster than Santos goes through women. And before you say it, you're not downloading anything. Why spend money when you don't have to? Plus, your apartment is too small to do anything physical in."

That was an outright lie. Steph and I have done a few _very_ physical things in her place, but I don't think that's exactly what she had in mind for burning off calories. And if it was, I'd want Stephanie _here _since my bed is a lot bigger than hers.

"Just tell me when you'd like to reserve the gym, and I'll make sure it's shut down if you'd like a little privacy."

"Ranger, I'm not letting you give me special treatment. Just forget I mentioned anything."

"No. You _did _mention it. And I make it a point not to forget _anything _you say. I'm glad to see you finally take an interest in some kind of exercise. And I want to support you. Call me before you arrive and I'll clear the gym out."

"If you're not going to let this go ..."

"I'm not."

"Okay ... then can you scramble the cameras? I don't want a bunch of curious or bored control room eyes staring at me."

"Done."

"Can I come in tonight after I pick up my skip?"

"Yes. Who are you after?"

I don't want Stephanie going out without backup if she needs it.

"Leroy Panis."

"The old pervert?"

I remember hearing that Leroy has a bad habit of flashing his goods at buses containing senior women on their way to Atlantic City for the day. With _that _last name, I'd be surprised if Leroy didn't have a penile obsession or fascination.

"Yeah. Leroy's gross, but harmless. Maybe I'll be able to snag him before his grandchildren hide him again. I should be here by seven, or maybe earlier if my skip's a bust. You'll probably be having supper on seven by then, so I won't bother you."

"A visit from you is never a bother, Babe."

She smiled at me, and my hands were reaching for her before I realized that's what they were about to do. I pressed my lips to Stephanie's, exerting just enough pressure to make her open for me. Steph did, and my tongue quickly found hers.

"What are you doing?" Steph asked me, a minute later.

"If you don't know, Steph, clearly it's been too long since you've been kissed."

"It hasn't been _that _long. You kissed me when you dropped me off at home the other night."

"That wasn't a kiss, Babe. That was an _appetizer_."

"An appetizer for what?" She asked.

"Since you asked, I expect you to join me for dinner so I can explain it to you. Just come up to my apartment when you're done."

Her lips separated again, but this time to say something instead of sucking my tongue into her mouth.

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Babe," I said, cutting off the protest.

Stephanie paused, sensing no way out now. I fought a grin at her trapped expression. I bent my head and brushed my lips across her mouth again.

"I'll be waiting," I whispered against it.

I pulled back in time to see Stephanie lick her lips. Fuck. Seven o'clock, eight o'clock, even ten minutes from now, is too long to wait to have Steph's naked body under mine again.

As I turned to walk towards the stairs and back to my office, I heard Steph mutter_, "I'm so screwed."_

Stephanie must be psychic now, because she will be exactly that as soon as she steps inside my apartment tonight.

But Stephanie never made it to the seventh floor, at least not for the time we agreed to. I got a call that evening saying Stephanie had entered the building, and had gone straight to the gym. The problems started ten minutes later, when Tank discovered that the cameras had been turned back on without my permission, making the control room come to a complete standstill.

I was out the door before I'd even disconnected. Lester has a fucked up sense of humor, and I didn't want him using Steph's gym time as a way of embarrassing her later on. I've been trying to get Stephanie to take better care of herself, and I'll be damned if Santos screws up the first real interest she has had in her health. Lester - and there's no doubt in my mind that Santos is behind this - will be getting his ass kicked first thing tomorrow morning. Maybe _tonight _if Stephanie finds out what he's done and decides she isn't staying with me on seven.

Santos will be paying in _blood _if that happens. I've been biding my time, slowly seducing Stephanie with dinner invites, unasked for backup, and random makeout sessions that stirred up her hormones without satisfying them completely. Tonight, I'd been ready to end the sexual torture for both of us. And due to an immature prick - and an even more immature joke - my carefully coercive tactics are in serious jeopardy.

Maybe I should call Santos' mother and let his family know not to expect Lester home for Christmas this year ... or _ever again_.

When I stepped into the control room, my anger intensified as I saw not only Lester, but Bobby, Ram, Woody, and Vince hovering behind Hal and Zero. Hal at least was keeping his eyes on the other monitors, clearly wanting no part of Lester's plan. Hal's face was bright red and I could detect a few beads of sweat forming at his hairline.

I walked up silently behind them and was about to rip them all a new one, when I saw what had them all entranced. And damn if I wasn't transfixed as well. Stephanie was on the screen wearing small, incredibly tight shorts, and a halter-style sports bra. Her stomach was bare to match her long legs, and I was instantly just as turned on as the men around me.

The difference is, the woman that _they _are lusting after is _mine_. Every inch of that smooth, ivory skin is for _me _to enjoy. Those legs are the ones made to be wrapped tightly around _my _waist. My men know this. And the fact that they are getting off on what is supposed to be a private moment of Stephanie's, pissed me the fuck off.

"Shut that fucking monitor off before I put your heads through it," I barked.

If I was in a better mood, and this was a different transgression on their parts, I might have found it amusing how high they all jumped. But I wasn't laughing. Stephanie views Rangeman as a safe haven, and these men have betrayed that ... and her trust. Each and every one of them will have to make up for that or get kicked the fuck out of my building. Hal had switched off the gym's screen before the first word had finished forming in my mouth.

"I want all of you in my office at 0600 hours. Not showing up wouldn't be in your best interest."

"I'm sorry, Sir," Hal said. "I didn't want to leave it running, but Lester and Bobby threatened to break my arm if I moved to shut it off again."

"Now you'll have almost twelve hours to think about what _I'm _going to break for _not _turning it off."

"You can't really blame us, Ranger," Lester was stupid enough to say. "Stephanie's fucking _hot_. I knew she was up to something when I saw Steph purposely going to the gym instead of coming up here. Once we found out what she was doing in there, we couldn't force ourselves to stop watching even though we should have."

"Stephanie considers you men her friends. And tonight, you abused that friendship. How do you think Stephanie will feel when she learns you were all up here leering at her like she was working a strip club on Stark?"

"Fuck," Bobby said.

"Do you have to tell her?" Ram asked.

"Yeah," Woody added, "we won't say anything about what we've seen. Stephanie doesn't have to know."

"I told you assholes to shut the gym's camera down," Tank said from behind me. "You're so hard up, you have to spy on a woman now? And go as far as to turn the screen right back on when my back is turned for only two fucking seconds? When Ranger gets through with you ... it's my turn. You'll soon learn that not listening to me is just as dangerous as ignoring an order."

"Oh, shit," Vince whispered.

"You'd better start praying," I told them. "I've seen what Stephanie can do to a man twice her size who'd only ripped her favorite jeans. What do you think she'll do to you all for this?"

"We're dead," Lester said to me.

"Probably. If you live through the three of us, I just may let you keep your jobs. _That _monitor is to stay off until _I _turn it back on. I will cut off any hand that touches it again, starting at the fingertips and working my way down. I don't like to repeat myself ... and I don't give idle threats," I reminded them.

I left them with that to think about.

I was running on rage and adrenaline at that point. And I really should have known better than to go to Stephanie before I'd calmed myself down a little, but the images of Steph in those 'clothes', bending, gyrating, and moving her body hypnotically to whatever she was listening to, had me in a _'state_' similar to the one Steph referenced in a parking garage a lifetime ago.

My entire body felt too hot and entirely too tight. And my pants felt three sizes too small in the groin area. I need Stephanie more now than I had when I'd planned on her having dinner with me. And I'd been feeling the pain then. As of five minutes ago, I want in that room and inside _Stephanie _as soon as I could get my pants open and her shorts off. I'll save her bra for when I'm not so keyed up.

The gym is soundproof, so I couldn't hear the music until I let myself into the gym. I didn't recognize the song, but the few lyrics I heard talked about being a _'Cowboy',_ '_riding at night cause I sleep all day,' _and _'spend all my time at Hollywood and Vine_'. Sounds like a lazy fuck to me. It's been my experience that you can accomplish a whole hell of a lot on no sleep, never mind a whole fucking day of it. This isn't what I usually hear blasting from Steph's car, but I suppose Metallica would be hard to dance to.

I stopped analyzing song lyrics when I noticed the clothes Steph must have walked into the building wearing, sitting in a corner where Stephanie must have thrown them. It looked to me like one of my t-shirts and a pair of black yoga-style pants had been carelessly tossed when Steph's heart rate had kicked up. My own had definitely increased at seeing a pile of her clothes on my gym's floor. My heart will get an even better workout once I add the last two items of her clothes to them.

Stephanie had her back to me, and I'd bet anything that her blue eyes are closed. She tipped her head to the side, making her brown curls slide sensually along her bare shoulder as she lost herself in the music. Having now seen her, I would also agree that this is better than a treadmill. I could watch Stephanie dance - in next to nothing - _forever_, but I immediately stopped that train of thought, thinking myself no better than the men upstairs for seeing Stephanie as a hot body they'd like to lose themselves in.

I would gladly, readily, and repeatedly, lose myself in her, too, but the fact that I also _love _Stephanie _should _make me better than any of them. It didn't. When Steph arched her back and swung her hips slightly side-to-side, my body moved on its own, coming up behind her and fitting my front to her back.

Steph jumped, which just made her ass move up and down the front of my cargo pants. I sucked a breath in through my teeth and told my dick to calm the fuck down, too.

"Jesus Christ, Ranger," Steph said, both hands flying to her chest, covering up the flushed skin I wanted to spend at least half the night exploring. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, Babe, but just knowing that you were down here, I couldn't stay away."

Her eyes searched mine. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's not important."

"Let me be the judge of that, Ranger."

"Seriously, Steph, let it go."

"No."

"Fine. One reason why I'm here is because Lester was acting like a sneaky asshole and made it his mission to find out what was going on in here."

I watched as she processed that. "Oh, crap. They were watching me dance?"

"Tank caught them once and immediately put a stop to it, but they went right back to it when Tank left the room to call me. I promise you ... they _will _be punished. Nobody disobeys a direct order, especially one regarding you."

"I bet they were laughing their asses off, too," Steph said, her face turning from a sexy over-exerted pink to an embarrassed red.

The men will suffer extensively for taking away the happy glow Stephanie had been giving off before I'd walked in here.

"Babe, they were so busying _drooling_, they couldn't form a coherent thought, never mind actually _laugh_."

Steph's hands fell to her sides as she considered that.

"They thought I danced okay?" She asked me, like the thought hadn't occurred to her before.

"I believe Santos said you are 'fucking hot'. He's getting his pretty-boy face smashed for that one."

Steph paused. "You mean I didn't look like an idiot dancing in an empty room all by myself? I've always been told what a klutz I am. And just the other day, Lula said I have no rhythm ..."

"I know just how _rhythmic _you are, Babe. And you looked so sexy dancing, the men will be having inappropriate thoughts - and dreams - for weeks to come ... just from a few minutes of watching you."

"Ranger, will you do me a favor?"

"Anything, Babe."

"Don't be too hard on them, okay?"

"They were disrespecting you, Stephanie. Your friends shouldn't be subjecting you to sex-laced comments and glazed-over stares."

"The guys didn't mean anything by it. Honestly, I feel better knowing they were 'appreciating' me. Aside from you, not many men have bothered pointing out that I turn them on."

"You're beautiful, Stephanie. You have to know that."

"You _do _make me feel that way, but if a roomful of men who are terrified of you put their lives on the line to sneak a few peeks at me, maybe you're onto something with all your compliments."

"I've been onto something - and turned on by someone -for a very long time, Babe."

"That would be _me_?"

"That would be you," I said, and reached for her.

"Ranger, don't. I'm all sweaty," Steph protested weakly.

"You'll be all sweaty by the time we're through, Babe. We'll just start off with a little extra moisture."

I grabbed her head in both hands and crashed my mouth down on hers. Stephanie parted her lips in surprise, and I took control and full advantage. I licked, stroked, and touched my tongue to, every crevice of her mouth I could reach.

"The cameras?" Steph breathed out, when our mouths broke apart and we took a few deep breaths to make up for the oxygen deprivation.

"The camera is turned off in here. And this time I added the threat of body part removal if it is touched by _anyone _except me."

"Okay, then. Where were we?"

"My mouth _was _on yours, but it's headed south."

The sound system hadn't been turned off and, appropriately, the song that was playing now was about _Strokin_' your woman. A good idea if I've ever heard one. That's exactly what I plan to do if Stephanie doesn't stop me.

I trailed my open mouth down Steph's neck, and attached it to the spot below her ear until I heard Stephanie make that little moan that gets me hard every time. She didn't disappoint. Even going as far as curling her leg around mine, opening herself up to - and pressing more firmly into - me. My left hand went to Steph's ass to hold her tight to my erection, while my right hand caressed her breast through her little sports bra.

Her nipple was already hardened into a delicious little peak, and my mouth watered at the thought of tasting her. All the sweetness that is Stephanie combined with the saltiness of the sweat that had occurred before I'd made it down here. Maybe I do want to remove her bra after all. And I ditched the scrap of fabric before picking Steph up, moving us over to one of the weight-lifting benches.

The bench will work nicely for what I have in mind. The mat can handle the rest. I sat down down with Stephanie straddling my lap, facing me. I dipped my head to her breast, taking my time drawing one into my mouth and circling her nipple with my tongue, before I moved to the other side. At every touch of my tongue, Steph moaned, whimpered, or sighed.

That's a good start, but I want to see the same look on Stephanie's face as the one she was wearing when her eyes had been closed, her curls flung back, and her body moving erotically - in my opinion - to the music.

Good thing I know exactly how to get Stephanie to that place again. Once Steph's chest was heaving and her face damp and flushed from _my _moves this time, I lifted her body to move out from underneath it, and laid her back along the bench.

"What are you up to?" Steph asked, her eyes half-closed, just waiting for what's next and enjoying the steps to reach it.

"You'll see, Babe."

I'd chosen an upper body bench that had the option of removable leg weights, so the foot of it had enough room for my body. Once I had Stephanie were I wanted her, I slid off her shorts and knelt at the end of the bench, draping her beautifully-shaped legs over my shoulders. Steph looked down the curves of her body at me.

"_Oh, God_," she whispered, when she realized what I was about to do to her.

"Hang on, Babe. You'll not only see God, but a few other things as well."

And I lowered my head slowly, letting Stephanie feel the individual strands of my hair against her inner thighs, and the warmth of my breath on her, a few seconds before my mouth fused to the hottest area on her body. Not only can it heat up a gun quickly, but my mouth, fingers, and dick, too. I was very deliberate in every brush of my tongue along her skin, the pressure I applied to the tip of it, and precise angle of my fingers now deep inside her. Watching Stephanie completely come apart in front of me is not a memory I'll soon forget.

Steph ended up clutching the bars on either side of her head sometime after her first orgasm. By her second one, she had them threaded through my hair, urging me on. I have no problem with following orders I approve of, so my lips went right back to Stephanie's now wet and extremely pliant body.

I could tell Stephanie was more than ready for me, not only because of the moisture that had coated my tongue, but Stephanie's head falling back gave me an unobstructed view of the pulse beating erratically in her throat. Steph's fingertips now trailing the floor beside her rather than tugging at my hair, was also a good indicator that she's okay with moving onto phase two.

I removed Stephanie's legs from my shoulders and wrapped them around my waist. I slid my hands under her sweat-slicked back and curled my hands over her shoulders from underneath.

"Babe, are you alright?"

"I don't know. Either I'm totally and completely satisfied or you just killed me. I'm feeling _really _good right now. _Heaven _kind of good, Ranger."

"I'm glad to hear it, Steph, but there's more. Are you up for it?"

She wiggled her hips a little until my dick was ready to break my zipper apart to get to her.

"I am if you are," She said back.

I picked Stephanie up one more time and took her to the mats.

"You know, I've had countless fantasies about these mats."

"You have?" I asked.

"Yes. I've always wondered if you were to ever give me a private defense lesson, would we wind up on a mat together without clothes?"

"I'd say the chances of it would be _very good_, just like this will be," I told her, then tore at the button and zipper on my cargo pants, and slid into Stephanie with one powerful move.

Her upper body came off the mat as I pushed her hips into it with mine. I held out as long as I could, but the friction - and feeling this woman around me - were just _too _good, causing my control to slip. As I plunged deeper and faster, Stephanie was squeezing and rotating her own body, and we both came together moments later. I haven't breathed this hard since basic training, and Steph looked on the verge of an asthma attack when I know she hasn't been diagnosed with any breathing issue.

"That was _waaay _better than dancing," Stephanie said, a few minutes later.

"Feel free to use my gym _or me _in the future, Babe. As for the _immediate _future ... when we get upstairs, I want you to call Vinnie and tell him you won't be at the office tomorrow."

"I won't?"

"No. By then we'll have eaten dinner and breakfast so there will be more calories to work off."

"What about Leroy? I can't help but think that maybe if I'd been in better shape, or acted a little faster, I could've gotten him today. I'm sure you were told that I missed him by five friggin' minutes. I really have to catch that old bastard."

"You'll catch him, Babe. And I'll be there to hold him down if you want him to suffer a little first."

Steph stretched her arms over her head, which made her breasts push forward and my attention instantly refocus.

"No, he doesn't have to suffer. And I really don't want my Rangeman guys to suffer at all. I just want Leroy caught, my capture check in the bank, and to make you breathe heavy again."

"Get dressed, Babe. We'll head up to my apartment and I'll get you started on some heavy breathing yourself."

**The two songs Stephanie was listening to in the gym were **_**Cowboy**_** by Kid Rock and **_**Strokin' **_**by Clarence Carter.**


End file.
